


Dancing With Somebody Else

by striking_stroll18



Category: Formula 1 RPF, Formula 2 RPF
Genre: Boys In Love, Friends to Lovers, Jealousy, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:53:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28133490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/striking_stroll18/pseuds/striking_stroll18
Summary: Marcus has a crush on Callum, but Callum only spends time with Mick.
Relationships: Marcus Armstrong/Callum Ilott
Comments: 4
Kudos: 88





	Dancing With Somebody Else

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from All The Songs by Will Young (thanks Maisie for suggesting it).  
> Massive thanks to the gc for sprinting with me and keeping me motivated.  
> Enjoy reading!

Marcus liked to believe that he wasn't a jealous person. However, when it came to Mister Callum Ilott, he was very much of a jealous person. So when Callum showed up to the F2 award ceremony in Mick's clothes because the idiot had forgotten his own, jealousy flared up in Marcus' chest. Not that he had any right to be jealous. Callum and Marcus were only friends, and Marcus had even moved out a while ago. But he was still jealous. The Kiwi ached for being more than friends with Callum, not that he would ever admit that to anyone but himself. He wanted to Callum to wear his clothes, not Mick's. The worst part about Callum dressed in Mick's clothes was undoubtedly the fact that Callum looked good in them. Not that Callum didn't look good every day. But Callum looking good in another person's clothes that weren't Marcus'? It made Marcus' blood boil with jealousy, and nobody could know.  
The Kiwi watched the prize-giving ceremony from a safe distance, shielded off from the TV cameras. It wouldn't be enjoyable to explain why he was clenching his jaw and fists that much while staring up at the podium. It also meant that nobody would bother him, since everyone was watching the ceremony from in front of the platform. Or at least that was what Marcus had thought.  
"Hey, mate. What are you doing? A shame you're not up there", Jüri suddenly spoke up behind him. Marcus had almost forgotten that the Estonian was in the paddock, too.  
"Better luck next year", Marcus sighed, looking at his friend who was by now standing next to him. He cleverly avoided Jüri's question on what he was doing. While the two racing drivers were friends, Jüri didn't know about Marcus' crush on his ex-roommate, and he didn't need to know. For a while, neither of them said anything, both listening to the interview Yuki gave for 3rd place.  
"You'd think being teammates with Guanyu would be helpful for Callum's style choices, but apparently, that's not the case", Jüri replied thoughtfully, a smirk on his face. Amazing. Marcus had been slightly hopeful that Jüri's presence might distract him from Callum's clothes that weren't actually Callum's clothes, but of course, the blonde man had to bring them up. Marcus forced out a smile, trying not to act suspicious, but of course, Jüri noticed that Marcus was bothered by something.  
"Mate, what is it? Did you tell Callum what to wear and you're mad that I think it doesn't look great?"  
Marcus could tell that Jüri's question was both honest and joking. Contemplating the different options he had, Marcus decided to talk to someone about his feelings, but not Callum. And who was better for that than Jüri who had already caught on to his weird behaviour anyway, right?  
"I can't tell you right now. And not here where someone could hear me", Marcus replied, looking to the ground to avoid Jüri's curious eyes.  
"Meet me in my hotel room after the race? We haven't had a chance to talk properly in ages", Jüri suggested with a kind smile on his face again. Marcus nodded and told Jüri to send him his room number before focusing back on the stage. Somehow, he had missed Callum's interview, as it was already Mick's turn.  
Marcus had been boiling with jealousy before, based alone on the whole clothes thing. But now another wave of jealousy hit him when he saw the way Callum and Mick interacted on the podium. Of course, they were friendly and respectful towards each other, but it was too much for Marcus at that moment. He turned around, not wanting to face his two fellow FDA members anymore. He missed Callum's searching gaze, and also didn't know of the disappointment the Brit felt when he didn't see Marcus in the crowd.

The next time Marcus saw Callum in person, the Kiwi once again felt jealousy flare up in his chest. Because, of course, Mick was standing next to him. It was like they were joined by the hip recently, and Marcus didn't like it. Of course, when he had talked to Jüri, the helpful advice had been to speak with Callum, but only over his dead body. He would not admit his crush to Callum and die of embarrassment, thank you very much. But the constant jealousy didn't do him or his friendship with Callum any good. Marcus wasn't sleeping well recently, and he would barely talk to Callum anymore.  
He was in Abu Dhabi for the post-season young driver test, as was Callum. Marcus wouldn't participate himself, but he was allowed to watch from the Ferrari garage. By now, even Robert had realised that something was out of the ordinary for Marcus. But the Russian had politely chosen not to comment on it. He knew what it was like to be bothered by everyone, and it wasn't a nice feeling when you just wanted to be left alone.  
After the tests, Robert ran into Mick when the taller driver was on his way to leave the paddock, greeting his now ex-teammate.  
"Hey, how are you? I hope you had fun driving the car today", Mick said, grinning. Robert nodded curtly, driving an F1 car was something unique that he wanted to do every day. Suddenly Robert remembered that maybe he should tell someone about Marcus's more than average abnormal behaviour in the last few days.  
"Mick, did you notice something weird about Marcus recently? He hasn't been the same lately, but he's especially weird since last weekend", Robert expressed his concerns for his friend. Mick thought about it for a second.  
"Honestly, I can't tell if he's been weird lately. He's been avoiding me, or at least it feels that way", the German then sighed. "Maybe you should ask Callum about it. Or Jüri. They always had the best relationship with him out of the guys."  
Of course, Robert should have known that Callum or Jüri would know more than Mick. But somehow he had assumed that maybe Mick knew more, too, he had been hanging out with Callum a lot after all.  
"Yeah, I will ask one of them if I see them. Thanks, Mick. Oh, and good luck for next year", Robert said before waving his hand to say goodbye and jogging off to where some people in Ferrari clothing waited for him at the paddock exit.

It was already relatively late when there was a knock on Marcus' hotel room door. He wasn't expecting anyone, so he had changed into comfortable jogging trousers and had taken off his shirt, only wearing a light vest so he wouldn't freeze. Marcus got up from the bed, not bothering to dress more appropriately before opening the door. It was probably Jüri who wanted to annoy him, or maybe Robert who finally decided to bother him, too.  
While he opened the door, he already braced himself to send Rob or Jüri away. He wasn't in the mood for company, no matter how much he liked his friends. As soon as he had opened the door halfway, he saw that it wasn't either of the men he half expected. It was his walking problem, Callum. And it wasn't Callum's fault that he was Marcus' problem. Unless the Kiwi started blaming him for being very attractive and funny and loyal and maybe Marcus should stop here before him staring (almost) half-naked at Callum in shock for several seconds got any more embarrassing than it already was. The Kiwi felt a blush creeping up his neck and asked, "What do you want? Did you get locked out of your room?"  
Marcus tried to be as normal as possible, trying to crack a joke but Callum immediately noticed something was off. He looked closely at Marcus, his eyes squinting slightly.  
"No, I just thought I could pay my friend and ex-roommate a visit", Callum said after a few seconds where he just stared at Marcus. Said man had felt his blush intensify under Callum's attentive gaze, his face bright red by now.  
"Come in, then", Marcus replied while stepping out of the way hesitantly. Once Callum was inside, Marcus closed the door behind him and tried to be as casual as he could when he walked to the bed to sit down with his back against the headrest. His palms had started sweating, so he attempted to rub the sweat off on his sweatpants discreetly.  
Callum hadn't said a word yet, the Brit standing about halfway between the door and the bed. He was still keeping his eyes on Marcus, no movement from the other man went unnoticed by Callum. When he noticed how nervous his younger friend was, Callum crossed his arms in front of his chest, but he still didn't say anything. Marcus had had enough of the silence and Callum staring at him.  
"If you want to stare at me, I suggest you leave. I'm not a riddle you need to figure out", Marcus snarled annoyedly, immediately regretting his tone.  
"At the contrary, I think there is something I need to figure out about you", Callum replied cryptically. He uncrossed his arms, his eyes leaving Marcus for the first time since Marcus had opened the door to look at his hands. "You know, I noticed that something is off with you recently", Callum continued while walking to the bed and sitting down across of Marcus. The Kiwi hadn't answered anything yet, his eyes leaving Callum to stare at his crossed legs. The man in front of him looked at him questioningly, patiently waiting for a reply. When there was none, he sighed.  
"Marcs, I'm just trying to figure out if you have a problem I could help you with", Callum explained, his voice kind. Marcus still wasn't looking at his crush, his fingers playing with the hem of the sleeves of the vest.  
"You are my problem", Marcus muttered under his breath, hoping that Callum didn't catch what he said. He seemed to be lucky this time as Callum didn't comment on it.  
"Come on, Marcs. More than one person asked me if I knew what is wrong with you. If I didn't know better, I would say you're jealous you didn't get to do the test", Callum said with a frown on his face.  
"Maybe I am jealous of something different", Marcus muttered again. This time he wasn't so lucky as Callum had heard him, his frown intensifying.  
"Do you want to talk about it? It will certainly not get any better if you only sulk and push everyone away", Callum said understandingly, but Marcus had had enough of Callum trying to talk to him.  
Without thinking, Marcus moved forward in a flash, his hands grabbing the back of Callum's head to draw the other man closer. He succeeded in doing so, the Brit not putting up the slightest struggle. If the younger man had taken Callum by surprise or Callum didn't care, Marcus didn't know. But he knew that he didn't care which of the two options it was. When their faces were close enough, Marcus pressed his lips against Callum's. The surprised but muffled yelp the older man let out seemed to reactivate Marcus' brain, as he let go of Callum and drew back as if he had been burnt. The Kiwi stumbled off the bed, not looking at Callum. He started to ramble apology after apology, but there was no verbal reaction from Callum.  
Marcus dared to look up at the man he had kissed seconds ago, expecting a shocked, maybe even disgusted expression. But instead of either of those, Callum was smiling, actually smiling. Marcus stopped talking, questioningly looking at the other man.  
"You know, if I had known I just had to hang out with Mick a lot for you to kiss me, I would have spent more time with Mick sooner", Callum said after a few seconds where the two men just stared at each other. His smile had widened while he was talking, but Marcus was only more confused.  
"So you're not mad?"  
This question sent Callum into a laughing fit. "Marcus, I noticed your pining ages ago. I didn't want to say anything so you wouldn't feel bad about being so obvious", the Brit pressed out between laughs.  
"Oh", the brown-haired man said quietly, looking at his bare feet ashamed.  
It didn't take long for Callum to appear in front of him. The blonde man put his hand below Marcus' chin, gently lifting head and making Marcus look at him.  
"I also wanted to know how long it would take you to make the first step. I was still scared I had misread you", Callum explained apologetically. Marcus shrugged, a lopsided grin on his face.  
"So what are you going to do now that you know you didn't?"  
Marcus had started to whisper, the tension that had suddenly built up between them almost tangible.  
"Well, if you don't mind it, I would like to kiss you again. And I would also like to ask you on a date for when we're in Italy again", Callum's voice even lower than Marcus' had been. It was almost only a breath ghosting over Marcus' face, and he felt his knees go weak when his brain finally caught on to the meaning of Callum's words.  
"I don't know what gave you the impression I would mind another kiss", Marcus replied cheekily, and Callum didn't hesitate to fulfil Marcus' indirect request. Now that they both knew what they were doing, Marcus had all the time in the world to realise how good kissing Callum felt.  
It was almost as if they hadn't done anything else in their lives. They both got lost in the feeling of their lips touching when a knock on the hotel room door caused them to drive apart. They probably shouldn't be caught making out with each other in Abu Dhabi. Their initial fear of being caught dissolved into relief when a familiar voice spoke up from outside the door.  
"Marcus, you don't have a bed you'd be willing to share for a night by any chance? I locked myself out of my room on accident", Jüri said embarrassed. Marcus looked at Callum, who curtly nodded at him.  
"It's your lucky day. You get the bed for yourself", Marcus announced smiling when he opened the door for Jüri.  
When the Estonian spotted Callum, Jüri didn't need to ask any more questions. He was just glad that they had finally talked about their obvious crushes on each other. Little did he know...

**Author's Note:**

> I appreciate every single kudo, and comments make my day! Constructive criticism is much appreciated, too :)


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